#20 Baylor (0-0) tips off against Auburn (0-0) Tuesday November 7th at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at 8pm CST. The game is televised on ESPN.
KenPom Prediction: Baylor 72 Auburn 71
Torvik Prediction: Baylor 74 Auburn 73
Evan Miyakawa Prediction: Baylor 76 Auburn 75
Haslametrics: Baylor 74 Auburn 72
Coaches
Auburn: Bruce Pearl (63) 649-256 (187-111 at Auburn); 12 NCAAs; 3 Sweet 16s; Elite 8; FF
Baylor: Scott Drew (53); 442-244 overall (422-233 at Baylor); 11 NCAAs; 5 Sweet 16s; 3 Elite 8s; FF; 1 National Championship
Head to Head: 1-0 Drew
*Auburn Starters
Guard: Tre Donaldson (SO) 6-2 190 lbs; 3 ppg; 1 asst; 38% FG; 41% 3pt; 55% FT
Guard: Denver Jones (JR) 6-4 205 lbs; 20 ppg; 4 reb; 2 asst; 48% FG; 37% 3pt; 85% FT (FIU)
Guard: Chaney Johnson (JR) 6-7 215 lbs; 16 ppg; 7 reb; 2 asst; 52% FG; 30% 3pt; 77% FT (D2)
Forward: Chris Moore (SR) 6-6 220 lbs; 4 ppg; 2 reb; 49% FG; 41% 3pt; 71% FT
Forward: Johni Broome (JR) 6-10 240 lbs; 14 ppg; 8 reb; 53% FG; 29% 3pt; 56% FT
*using starting lineup from exhibition game but more likely that KD Johnson and Jaylin Williams are starters. 5 star PG Aden Holloway didn’t play in exhibitiion (ankle sprain). Johni Broome left with a shoulder injury but is expected to play
Auburn Bench
Guard: KD Johnson (SR) 6-0 190 lbs; 9 ppg; 38% FG; 33% 3pt; 69% FT
Forward: Jaylin Williams (SR) 6-8 245 lbs; 11 ppg; 5 reb; 2 asst; 47% FG; 35% 3pt; 77% FT
Guard: Chad Baker-Mazara (JR) 6-7 180 lbs; 6 ppg; 42% FG; 39% 3pt; 90% FT (SDSU)
Forward: Dylan Cardwell (SR) 6-11 255 lbs; 4 ppg; 4 reb; 75% FG; 31% FT
Guard: Aden Holloway (FR) 6-1 180 lbs; 5 star; #16 Recruit in 247 2023 class
Baylor Starters
Guard: RayJ Dennis (SR) 6-3 180 lbs; 20 ppg; 4 reb; 6 asst; 48% FG; 37% 3pt; 77% FT (Toledo)
Guard: Langston Love (SO) 6-5 210 lbs; 6 ppg; 2 reb; 43% FG; 36% 3pt; 69% FT
Guard: Ja’Kobe Walter (FR) 6-5 185 lbs; 5 star; #8 Recruit in 247 2023 class
Forward: Jalen Bridges (JR) 6-9 225 lbs; 10 ppg; 6 reb; 51% FG; 32% 3pt; 78% FT
Forward: Jonthan Tchama Tchatuouia (SR) 6-8 235 lbs; 5 ppg; 5 reb; 48% FG; 43% 3pt; 85% FT
Baylor Bench
Guard: Jayden Nunn (JR) 6-3 190 lbs; 9 ppg; 3 asst; 2 st; 43% FG; 40% 3pt; 70% FT (VCU)e
Forward: Caleb Lohner (JR) 6-8 235 lbs; 3 ppg; 4 reb; 55% FG; 25% 3pt; 64% FT
Guard: Miro Little (FR) 6-4 190 lbs; 4 star; #41 Recruit in 247 2023 Class
Forward: Yves Missi (FR) 6-11 220 lbs; 4 star; #42 Recruit in 247 2023 Class
Forward: Josh Ojianwuna (SO) 6-10 240 lbs; 4 ppg; 4 reb; 59% FG; 66% FT
Guard: Dantwan Grimes (JR) 6-2 190 lbs; redshirted last season as juco transfer
Dennis was fantastic in the second half. And he did it playing with four fouls for most of that time.FOAB said:
Big deal in second half … Rayj had no turnovers.
Yves Missi...WOW pic.twitter.com/zwFdEblv61
— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) November 8, 2023
bear2be2 said:
The thing I love most about tonight is I didn't see anyone trying to force offense outside of the flow of the offense. We forced some ill-advised passes, but there wasn't a ton of hero ball or ill-advised shots.
Even Walter was super efficient and got his points within the flow of the game. That's really encouraging to see.
Quinton said:
Nunn actually decent if he settles down. The 3 ball D needs desperate work but Auburn did hit some contested shots too.
Auburn is extremely physical and a tough team to play with a brand new roster. All upside with chemistry and coaching. Nobody in conference is close in top end talent
gobears20 said:
My goodnessYves Missi...WOW pic.twitter.com/zwFdEblv61
— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) November 8, 2023
bear2be2 said:
We're going to need one of Grimes or Little to step up and establish themselves as the backup point guard, but this has the potential to be an outstanding group of scoring guards.
Dennis, Nunn, Love and Walter is a pretty special group.
I think we'll need someone to emerge as a sure-handed ball-handler to fill the role Bonner held last year. Neither Dennis or Nunn are true point guards. There will likely be times this season we'll want a guy more suited to that role to handle it for a few minutes here and there.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:
We're going to need one of Grimes or Little to step up and establish themselves as the backup point guard, but this has the potential to be an outstanding group of scoring guards.
Dennis, Nunn, Love and Walter is a pretty special group.
Nunn looks to be our primary backup PG as Drew was staggering his minutes with RayJ. Grimes appears a couple tiers below them in talent. Miro might emerge as he gets more comfortable with this level of athleticism and physicality.
BaylorLit 01 said:
It also looks like we have multiple ball handlers. Last years team desperately needed another ball handling guard.
bear2be2 said:I think we'll need someone to emerge as a sure-handed ball-handler to fill the role Bonner held last year. Neither Dennis or Nunn are true point guards. There will likely be times this season we'll want a guy more suited to that role to handle it for a few minutes here and there.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:
We're going to need one of Grimes or Little to step up and establish themselves as the backup point guard, but this has the potential to be an outstanding group of scoring guards.
Dennis, Nunn, Love and Walter is a pretty special group.
Nunn looks to be our primary backup PG as Drew was staggering his minutes with RayJ. Grimes appears a couple tiers below them in talent. Miro might emerge as he gets more comfortable with this level of athleticism and physicality.
BaylorLit 01 said:
I was worried after last year that Jerome Tang was Scott Drew's necessary ingredient. Tonight's game restored my faith. It's just 1 game, but I don't remember ever having that much fun watching last year's team.
Married A Horn said:Quinton said:
Nunn actually decent if he settles down. The 3 ball D needs desperate work but Auburn did hit some contested shots too.
Auburn is extremely physical and a tough team to play with a brand new roster. All upside with chemistry and coaching. Nobody in conference is close in top end talent
3 were from another zip code. And their big man hit 2. And, this group can play D. I doubt they get caught off guard again.
We've recruited and had a lot of true point guards. Only recently have we played combo guards at that position and it was by necessity not design.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:I think we'll need someone to emerge as a sure-handed ball-handler to fill the role Bonner held last year. Neither Dennis or Nunn are true point guards. There will likely be times this season we'll want a guy more suited to that role to handle it for a few minutes here and there.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:
We're going to need one of Grimes or Little to step up and establish themselves as the backup point guard, but this has the potential to be an outstanding group of scoring guards.
Dennis, Nunn, Love and Walter is a pretty special group.
Nunn looks to be our primary backup PG as Drew was staggering his minutes with RayJ. Grimes appears a couple tiers below them in talent. Miro might emerge as he gets more comfortable with this level of athleticism and physicality.
In Drew's system he doesn't really recruit "true" point guards they can all score and distribute as combo guards.
bear2be2 said:We've recruited and had a lot of true point guards. Only recently have we played combo guards at that position and it was by necessity not design.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:I think we'll need someone to emerge as a sure-handed ball-handler to fill the role Bonner held last year. Neither Dennis or Nunn are true point guards. There will likely be times this season we'll want a guy more suited to that role to handle it for a few minutes here and there.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:
We're going to need one of Grimes or Little to step up and establish themselves as the backup point guard, but this has the potential to be an outstanding group of scoring guards.
Dennis, Nunn, Love and Walter is a pretty special group.
Nunn looks to be our primary backup PG as Drew was staggering his minutes with RayJ. Grimes appears a couple tiers below them in talent. Miro might emerge as he gets more comfortable with this level of athleticism and physicality.
In Drew's system he doesn't really recruit "true" point guards they can all score and distribute as combo guards.
All of our best teams had true point guards. The first Elite Eight team had Tweety, the second had Pierre Jackson and the championship team had Davion.
Recruiting misses left us playing ball-dominant scoring guards at that position the last two seasons.
RayJ's history says he can. Point guard minutes from Nunn are a gamble. He didn't do that at VCU and he looked really shaky as a ball-handler tonight.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:We've recruited and had a lot of true point guards. Only recently have we played combo guards at that position and it was by necessity not design.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:I think we'll need someone to emerge as a sure-handed ball-handler to fill the role Bonner held last year. Neither Dennis or Nunn are true point guards. There will likely be times this season we'll want a guy more suited to that role to handle it for a few minutes here and there.Crawfoso1973 said:bear2be2 said:
We're going to need one of Grimes or Little to step up and establish themselves as the backup point guard, but this has the potential to be an outstanding group of scoring guards.
Dennis, Nunn, Love and Walter is a pretty special group.
Nunn looks to be our primary backup PG as Drew was staggering his minutes with RayJ. Grimes appears a couple tiers below them in talent. Miro might emerge as he gets more comfortable with this level of athleticism and physicality.
In Drew's system he doesn't really recruit "true" point guards they can all score and distribute as combo guards.
All of our best teams had true point guards. The first Elite Eight team had Tweety, the second had Pierre Jackson and the championship team had Davion.
Recruiting misses left us playing ball-dominant scoring guards at that position the last two seasons.
We are arguing semantics again. Tweety and Pierre were scoring machines. Butler and Davion were both combo guards not traditional, old school, true point guards.
RayJ and Nunn both can give us the same kind of flow in our offense. We will be fine.
I'm not saying we'll need a ton of minutes out of Little or Grimes, but I think we'll need one of those guys to emerge as a guy who can give us 10-15 good point guard minutes in a pinch.Crawfoso1973 said:
I think Miro will potentially us minutes as he gets more comfortable.
